What Is Viber ? How Its Works ?

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Viber, the free messaging and calls app. Viber is a cross-platform instant messaging and voice over IP (VoIP) application operated by Japanese multinational company Rakuten, provided as freeware for the Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS platforms.

It requires a telephone computer to operate. In addition to instant messaging, it allows users to exchange media such as images and video records. As of December 2016, Viber had 800 million registered users.The software was originally developed by Israel-based Viber Media that was bought by Rakuten in 2014. Since 2017 its corporate name is Rakuten Viber. It is currently based in Luxembourg

Like many messaging and communications apps, users had come to view Viber as a utility. And there are plenty of users: since his arrival, Viber’s global user base has more than doubled to over 600 million.

At the heart of the strategy are Viber’s ‘Public Chats’ – streams of partner content, ranging from the BBC and Huffington Post to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and music brand Ibiza Rocks. Users are persuaded to return to Viber more often to keep track of the latest updates, thereby creating a new channel through which brands can target a predominantly youthful audience.

Users of Viber will be able to access an unlimited amount of chats on their mobile devices which will feature text, photos, audio, video, stickers and web links.

Free mobile communications app Viber is taking its first step into social media with a new feature called Public Chats that will allow users to follow live discussions between celebrities, personalities and brands.

Common Features Of Viber

group messaging and HD Voice engine were added to both Android and iOS applications.

Viber added ‘stickers’ to the application. In October 2013, Viber started selling sticker packs.

Voice support was officially added for all Windows Phone 8 devices on April 2, 2013.

Viber officially launched Viber Out, a feature that provides users the option to call mobile and landline numbers via VoIP without the need for the application.

Viber Out was originally released in November only to help Typhoon Haiyan victims in the Philippines connect with their loved ones.

In November 2016, Viber launched Public Accounts, to allow brands to engage in promotion and customer service on the platform.

The Huffington Post, Yandex and The Weather Channel were the first to use it. The app allows its users to send a video message in one-push but to use numerous in-chat bot.

Security Prospectus

On November 4, 2014, Viber scored 1 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s “Secure Messaging Scorecard”. Viber received a point for encryption during transit but lost points because communications were not encrypted with keys that the provider didn’t have access to (i.e. the communications were not end-to-end encrypted), users could not verify contacts’ identities, past messages were not secure if the encryption keys were stolen (i.e. the service did not provide forward secrecy), the code was not open to independent review (i.e. the code was not open-source), the security design was not properly documented, and there had not been a recent independent security audit. On November 14, 2014, the EFF changed Viber’s score to 2 out of 7 after it had received an external security audit from Ernst & Young’s Advanced Security Centre.

On April 19, 2016, Rakuten added end-to-end encryption to their service, but only for one-to-one and group conversations in which all participants are using the latest Viber version for Android, iOS, Windows (Win32) or Windows 10 (UWP). The company said that the encryption protocol had only been audited internally, and promised to commission external audits “in the coming weeks”. In May 2016, Viber published an overview of their encryption protocol, saying that it is a custom implementation that “uses the same concepts” as the Signal Protocol.

How to enable Public Chat option on Viber?

To enable public chat on your Android device, click to select public chat option from the main menu and then tap the compass icon to find a list people who follow the public chat. You can choose your favorite celebrities and follow them.

With this new feature, users of Viber get a new social media platform to connect with their favorite stars and celebrities. People who opt to use Viber as a communication platform can now share their thoughts and talk with people on social media channels as well.

This public chat will enlist people who are capable of creating some interesting chats and not just follow celebrities only. Creating interesting chats will attract people and enable them to participate in it. For now, not everyone can be a part of the Public Chat, only those whose conversations or topics they feel interesting and good for public discussion can get such an opportunity. According to a report, Viber has successfully enlisted 5 million people into its Public chat list.

Viber has taken such a step for mainly two reasons — first, to bring more engaging users to Viber and second, popularize this app across the globe. Besides these two reasons, keeping itself apart from other messaging apps is the key aim of Viber marketers.

The makers of Viber have also made it clear that it is a way of serving ads. Unlike WeChat and SnapChat that show pop up ads on the screen of the app, Viber has no such intention and like other chat options, this public chat is another feature of Viber catering to the needs of people. However, it does not mean that the brands cut from Public chat on Viber as it was happened with Instagram and Twitter. If you want, you can post an advertisement or content on the public chat.

This feature of Viber will be available for now for android users only, and it is hoped that its Windows and iOS versions will soon roll out in the near future. For now, Android users can use this new social media platform of Viber.